ALVERSTON (and NEWCHURCH) AMBLE REPORT

The Quiz Walk is an event we hold with the Isle of Wight Ramblers and it has been running in itπs present form for 4 years. August is usually a poor month for attendance, due to holidays and hot weather (well sometimes). But this time we were blessed with pleasant sunny weather and a gentle breeze. As a result we had our best turnout with 20 teams and over 60 people taking part.

The planning was done during a hot spell in July and we found the very first path we wanted to use was completely overgrown and almost impassable. However, after a phone call to the Council Rights of Way Dept it was cleared within a week. If you find paths in a poor condition, dangerous stiles or missing signs, donπt hesitate to call them on 857230 or e-mail them at row@iow.gov.uk .

Everybody was very happy with the area of the walk, which combined a mix of hill, dale, woods, wetland and was all off road. The village hall at Newchurch was an excellent venue and there was even a pub nearby for those who needed more than tea and biscuits at the end. The clues were a mix of cryptic and straight forward and as usual they caused some debate at the finish. Examples of some clues can be found on the website under "Results"

This year we tried an additional element by having two maps and allowing teams to choose. One map had the approximate position of the clues marked on it. The other was blank and the team had to work out clue positions by using grid references. Out of a possible total of 66 points 5 were added for using the "hard" map and 5 deducted for choosing the "easy".

It seemed like a good idea at the time and the first few teams seemed eager to set off with the unmarked map. However this map had a serious printing mistake that would render the grid references useless. Luckily this was spotted by The Quizicals (Ramblers) but we were unable to catch the first two teams out - Rio and Darch Side of the Moon. But they are to be congratulated for working it out for themselves and returned creditable results. In fact Rio, a young lady rambler working on her own, had the best result We decided to send the later teams out on the easier map to avoid any problems so they were not able to get +5 points for effort. Our apologies for the mix up, but it didnπt seem to spoil the enjoyment.

The Totland Tearaways (aka Sue and Glyn Williams) commented that the course had so many kissing gates that they were delayed for some reason. Canπt think what they could have been up to!

Yvonne Curran, one of our new members, did sterling work in the kitchen providing much needed refreshments at the end. She was so popular that we ran out of biscuits. All in all a good day out and we are encouraged to arrange another walk same time next year, possibly west of Newport. We look forward to seeing more of you then.

Lesley Curran and Frank Winter, Planners